Riera-Gomez, Lindsey M

Parental sensitivity, parental intrusiveness, child involvement, and dyadic synchrony are factors associated with important developmental outcomes. The current study uses the CIB (Feldman, 1998) for a behavioral approach to investigating the effects of parental loneliness and perceived social support during the COVID-19 pandemic on parent-infant (12 􀂱 24 mo) behaviors during a free-play interaction (N = 43). The results of this study demonstrate that parental loneliness has an adverse effect on parental sensitivity and intrusiveness, but not child involvement and dyadic synchrony. Mediation analyses revealed the specific mechanisms by which low levels of perceived social support increase loneliness, which in turn, influences parents to behave more intrusively towards their infants. The findings of this study hold value for interventions that seek to reduce risk for adverse developmental outcomes. These results also hold important implications about the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact on parenting behaviors towards infants.